Graduate Project

 

Physical characteristics of forest soils after timber harvest and tillage in central Oregon: a case study Public Deposited

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_projects/bg257k971

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  • This study examined the effects of timber harvest and subsoiling on soil physical properties considered important to forest productivity and hydrologic concerns. Ground based mechanical timber harvesting on some soil types can cause soil disturbance including compaction. These effects in turn can influence multiple important soil physical properties that affect forest productivity and watershed processes. On Federal forest lands in the Pacific Northwest, forest tillage, or subsoiling, is often used to ameliorate compacted soils. This case study examines multiple soil physical properties in a subsection of four harvest units that were clearcut harvested followed by subsoiling of skid trails, and in four adjacent control areas, in the Deschutes National Forest east of the Cascade crest in central Oregon. Subsections were biased towards areas of heavy machine traffic, generally next to a landing, and were tested for differences based on whether the sites were sloped versus flat, or disturbed versus undisturbed. Soil properties tested were: bulk density, total porosity, pore size distribution, available water capacity, soil strength, and infiltration. Significant differences were seen between harvested-subsoiled areas and undisturbed controls for bulk density, total porosity, soil strength in the 12.5-25.0 and 25.0-37.5 cm depths, and infiltration at very high rainfall rates. Significant differences between flat and sloped areas were observed in soil strength at the 12.5-25.0 and 25.0-37.5 cm depth classes. However, given the limited scale and variable nature of the observed differences it appears that tillage of compacted areas mitigated most of the negative physical effects. Physical soil productivity and hydrologic behavior comparable to the undisturbed areas is expected.
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